Donald Schroeder on Groff – ‘Supreme Court decision is inviting a more fact-based analysis’

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Donald Schroeder assessed the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in the religious accommodation case Groff v. DeJoy as it returns to the district court in the Law360 article, “A Year After High Court Spotlight, Groff Case Still A Bellwether.”

Schroeder said he would be surprised if the case was decided on summary judgment.

“The questioning is suggesting that this is likely going to have to be decided by a jury trial,” he explained. Overall, Schroeder predicts that the justices’ decision in Groff means that more religious accommodation cases will reach a jury.

“The Supreme Court decision is inviting a more fact-based analysis as opposed to the legal standard, and if it gets into a fact-based analysis, there’s going to be a dispute of fact, and therefore the case is more likely to go to trial,” Schroeder added.

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